Railway switch mechanism.



PATENTBD MAR. 20, 1906.

F. K. HOFFMAN.

RAILWAY SWITCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8. 1905.

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RAILWAY SWITCH MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 20, 1906.

Application filed December 8, 1905. Serial 110.290.909. 4

To Z171 whomit may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK K. IIOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at 1.)unkirk, in the county of Chautauqua and State 5 of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Ha lway Switch \lOClHILUlSITl; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enab e 1 others sk lled in the art to, which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to switch mechanism vfor railway-trm'ks; and its object is to provide a switch-rmcrating mechanism for streetrailwnys which can be 0 aerated by a streetcar a mroachinp a switc so that it will be no thrown open for the spur, and after the car .has'passcd the switch and onto the s ml the car will contact with a lever,whichwill cause the sw h to be closed, so that the main-line trackwill again heopcn. Heretofore this has z been accompl shed by a man getting off or the car and opening the switch and closing it again in some ol the well-known ways.

The Features oi my invention are hereinafter more full set forth and explained and are o illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

form andwheel of a street-car about to enter the switch.

1n the drawings, A A indicate the rails of a railway main track, and-A A the rails of a syz-rrr-trnckcut into the main line by means of V (See Fig. 1.) For opera, ing these tongues B there is the usual sliding bar 0, to which the tongues B ai'c'securcd in the usual manner. For returning the tongues B to their normal posi- 5 tion, as shown by full lines inl ig. 1, so that the main line will be opeiragain after the pas- I sage of a car onto the spur A A I provide a spring mechanism D, adapted to operate di rectly upon the slaimg bar (I and through 1t return the tongues B to their normal position. For operating the bar C to open the spur-track A A,l pri'ivide a horizontal lcvcr E, one end of which is pivoted, preferably, outside of the track A, toward which the tongues B are to be throwh, byihe pivot c,

said lever extcnoing along the side of said track to a point sufficiently distant in advance of the switch to be operated by an appreaching car before the wheels of the car reach the points of the tongues B, and to this lever E the sliding bar C is secured by means of the pivot c. The forward end of the lever E is provided with an upturned end adapted to contact with a switch-operating dcvicc upon a car. I preferably make the upturned end of the lever E depressihle, so that it will not be in the way of' general street traflic, except when a car is approaching a switch. I here show one way of doing this in the draw. ings, which is as follows: 1 provide the lever E at its free end with an offset 0, and at a point between the pivot c and the oll'set e I secure a sup lemental bar F by means of a pivotf, \vhicii bar F has an upturned end F, which projects upward between the ol'lsct end 0 of the lever E and the rail A of the truck and is pressed upward by the spring G. (See Fig. This upward projection F is provided with a notch F adapted to enga 'e a latch for holding the bar F and its end l 111 a normally depressed position. I provide a spring latch mechanism adapted to engage the notch F which preferably consists ota sliding bolt H with a rctracting-spring J to hold the bolt normally in engagement with the notch F, and at a point sullicicntly distant in advance oi the end 0 of the lever E to permit of its contacting with the wheel of an approaching car before theswitoll-operating device on the car reaches the end e of the lever E, I place a hell-crank lever K, which is preferably mounted upon the side o'l'- the rail A by means of the pivot lo and connect the lower arm of the lever K with the latch-bolt .H by means oi a link L. The upper arm of the ever K. is upturned, as shown in Fig. 2, and normally extends slightly above 7 the track-rail A. For holding the sliding bar C and tongue B in a position to open the spur A, I provide a. spring-dog M, vhich springs in behind the end 01'' the bar C when the tongues B are thrown overby an approaching car, and thereby hold them in the position shown by broken lines in Fig. 1 until the carwheels contact with the lever N at the side of the switch-track A, which may be a dupli- -ate of the bell-crank lever K, but reversed and connected by the wire or link with the sprnrgwlog .\i, which will withdraw the do; .\l from ':...-hind the end of the bar C and allow the bar and tongues F1 to be returned to their normal position by th 1* spring 1).

In '2 I show the front platform wheel of a street-car. pressed the upper arm of the lever K, ad thereby withdrawn the spring-bolt H from the notch F in the upwarrlly-projecting end F" of the supplemental bar F, pivoted to the lever E, and the motorneer has lowered the switch-operating device Q, so that it will contact with the upturned end E. The switch-operating device is a bar so placed under the car-platform that its forward end is relatively over the rail and will pass behind the upturned end l, and the rear end of the bar Q is considerably outside ofthe rail. In other word the bar Q is suspended over the rail and at an oblique angle thereto and while normally in the raised position (shown by broken lines in Fig. 2) when lowered, as shown in full lilies in said figure, will pass in an oblique position behind the upturned end l of the lever E and force it outward, and thereby throw the tongues B into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. l and allow the our to pass onto the spur-track A, where the W eels of the car will contact with the lever N and release the bar (l and allow the tongues to be returned to their normal position. VVhenit is not desired to enter the branch or spur track, the motorneer keeps the oblique bar Q raised in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. VVhen'the upturned end F is re leased and rises tothe position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 andthe car passes it With the oblique barQ raised, so that the switch is not operated thereby, any passing vehicle-wheel contacting therewith will press it down again into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, where it will be engaged and retained by the spring-bolt H.

I have illustrated and described my improved switch mechanism as applied to an open-work railroad-track; but it is obvious that the operating mechanism can be entirely covered with only the upturned end of the lever E and the levers K and N visible; but as this covering forms no part of my invention and is common in street-railway construction I have not included it in this description.

Havingthus fully described my invention, so as to enable others to construct and oper ate the same, what 1 claim as new, and dcsire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a railway switch mechanism the combination of, a switch-tongue, asliding bar for operating the same, spring mechanism adapted to retain said tongue in a closed position, a switch-operating lever connected with and adapted to operate said sliding bar, an upturned end on said operatinglever adapted to be engaged and operated bv a switch-operating device on a railwav-ca r, spring latch mechanism adapted to lock the switch mechanism in an open position, and

The wheel l has de 3 l l l ever-and-linlr mechanism adapted to release h sorin latch mechanism, substantially as 2. in a railway switch mechanism the combination of a switch-tongue, a sliding lor operating the same, an operating-lever pivoted beside the railway-track rail connecterhand adapted to operate said sliding bar, an oll'set at the free end of said lever, a supplementary bar pivoted to said lever, the tree end thereoi being upturned behind the ot'l'set end of said leverand adapted to contact with a switell-operating device on a car, and a spring adapted to press said supplementary bar upward, substantially. as described.

3. In a railway switch mechanism the combination. of, aswitch-tongue, a slidin bar for operating the same, an operatingever pivoted beside the railway-track rail connected to and adapted to operate said sliding bar, an ol'l'set at the free end of said lever, a

supplemei'itary barpivoted to said leverthe' free end thereof being upturned behind the oll'set on said lever, and adapted to contact with a switclnoperating device 011 a railwayear, a spring adapted to press said supplementary bar upward, a spring latch mechanism adapted to engage said supplemental bar when the same is )lGSStXl downward and retain it in'a downward position, and lever-andlink mechanism adapted to operate said spring latch mechanism and release said supplemental bar, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway switch mechanism the combination of a switch-tongue, asliding bar for operating the same, spring mechanism to retain the tongue in a closed position, a lever connected with and adapted to operate said sliding bar, a shoulder on said lever, a supplemental bar pivoted to said lever and having the free end thereof upturned behind the shoulder on said lever, a spring adapted to press said supplemental bar upward, spring latch mechanism adapted to engage said supplemental bar and retain it when the same is pressed downward, lever-and-link mechanism adapted to operate said springlatch to release said supplemental bar, a spring-latch adapted to retain the switch mechanism in an open position until released, lever-and-lirik mechanism adapted to operate said latch to release the switch mechan ism, a switch-operating device on a railwaycar adapted when lowered to contact with the upturned end of the supplemental bar and operate. said lever, and means to raise and lower said switch-operating device, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK K. HOFFMAN.

Nit nesses:

VICKTOR WYsocKr. H. B. HILL. 

